Women in construction? You bet
There aren't very many of them - about 200 in all, including 25 or so in the greater Chicago area - who are members of the Washington D.C.-headquartered Women Construction Owners & Executives USA.
Nonetheless, many of those women turn out to be important players in the construction industry.
Locally, for example, WCOE member construction activities include the underground work at Millennium Park and, for at least one suburban company, a role as a Diversified Supplier for such clients as AT&T, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.
Perhaps more importantly, there apparently is interest among younger women in construction opportunities.
Diane Middlebrooks, women's initiative coordinator at Itasca (IL) Bank & Trust Co., emailed that "I met some students from Purdue who are studying construction management. Their faces lit up when they were telling me they were learning about concrete, etc., in addition to business management."
Like the students, Middlebrooks was attending She Builds, a June seminar organized by Catherine Tojaga, owner of CT Mechanical, an HVAC company based in Addison.
Tojaga also is a WCOE board member.
"Women need to be in this field," says Theresa Kern. "(Construction) can be a good career for women, a place to develop relationships and not just sit in a cubicle with your computer."
Besides, she adds with a hint of pride and a bit of humor, "Construction is one of the few businesses left that can't be outsourced."
Then Kern turns serious. If the construction workplace were more open to women, she says, the social issues that others often complain are simply a women's issue - the baby sitter, money and similar topics - would disappear.
Kern recalls that "Back in the day, four or five of us in construction would meet for breakfast and conversation. 'I'm looking for an accountant.' 'Do you know a banker?'"
Move the day a bit closer, say to July 1983 when, according to the WCOE website, 11 women from across the country got together to discuss the formation of an organization that would better serve women who owned or managed construction businesses.
WCOE incorporation papers were filed the next January. Kern is on her second go-round as president.
There is little doubt that the organization is growing. There are members in states from New York to California and Minnesota to Florida; a new chapter is under formation in Nashville.
While professional growth and camaraderie are important, the WCOE website includes listings of projects out for bid. That matters, too.
Like her counterparts, Kern works on many well-known projects. It was her company, Chicago-based MA Rebar Services Inc., that did the underground work at Millennium Park.
CT Mechanical's website list of clients includes those for which it is a Diversified Supplier (above) - and, according to the CT website, such local names as The University of Chicago, ComEd, Nicor and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Although the WCOE focus is on women-owned or managed businesses, individual membership categories include contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, architects and engineers.
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